Sebelius takes GOP criticism over “Obamacare” WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans blistered Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday over the nation’s controversial health care law, bluntly challenging her honesty, pushing for her resignation and demanding unsuccessfully she concede that President Barack Obama deliberately misled the public about his signature domestic program. “We’re not in it to just give you a rough time. We’re in it to try and hopefully get it righ...

Why a spike in October unemployment may not be so bad WASHINGTON (AP) — The jobs report for October due out Friday may be bleak. It might even be scary. The unemployment rate could jump by the most in three years. Hiring may slow from an already weak pace. Don’t panic. The ugly figures will reflect the government’s partial shutdown, which coincided with 16 days in October. The trends for the job market will likely reverse themselves in coming months. “It’s going to be a very messy report, and I d...

Russian fireball shows meteor risk may be bigger WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists studying the terrifying meteor that exploded without warning over a Russian city last winter say the threat of space rocks smashing into Earth is bigger than they thought. Meteors about the size of the one that streaked through the sky at 42,000 mph and burst over Chelyabinsk in February — and ones even larger and more dangerous — are probably four, five or even seven times more likely to hit the planet than scient...

Christie re-elected as governor of New JerseyASBURY PARK, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie has declared victory in his re-election bid, thanking New Jersey’s voters for “making me the luckiest guy in the world.” He made his victory speech just after 10 p.m. in the shore town of Asbury Park. Christie became the first Republican on the ballot statewide in New Jersey since George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 1988 to get more than 50 percent of the votes in the state. With 69 percent ...

Other NFL players cite lack of leaders in Miami ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Eleven seasons into his football career, Washington Redskins linebacker Nick Barnett figures he has a pretty good sense of the sort of teasing and hazing and horsing around that happens in the typical NFL locker room, especially when it comes to rookies. They’re stuck with $5,000 dinner tabs. They’re told to tote the helmets or pads of older players. They’re held down and given unwanted haircuts or get their eyebrows shaved...

NJ mall shooting baffles relatives of gunman TEANECK, N.J. (AP) — Relatives and friends of a young man who fired shots in New Jersey’s largest mall, trapping terrified shoppers for hours before killing himself, struggled Tuesday to reconcile those actions with a person they described as pleasant and well-liked. Investigators don’t believe the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Richard Shoop, intended to shoot anyone when he began firing at the ceiling and elsewhere at the Garden State Pla...

Twitter just one symptom of IPO fever’s return Five years after the financial crisis dampened enthusiasm for initial public offerings, investors are again eager to buy shares when companies start trading. Twitter is the star this week, but the number of offerings shows that it’s not just social-media darlings that are seeking and attracting investors. There have been 190 offerings this year, and momentum has built as market indexes have set new highs. October’s 33 offerings made it the bus...

Paralyzed deer hunter chooses to end life support INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tim Bowers got to decide for himself whether he wanted to live or die. When the avid outdoorsman was badly hurt Saturday in a hunting accident, doctors said he would be paralyzed and could be on a ventilator for life. His family had a unique request: Could he be brought out of sedation to hear his prognosis and decide what he wanted to do? Doctors said yes, and Bowers chose to take no extra measures to stay alive. He died S...

Georgia police: 10-year-old’s body found in trash can LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — The father and stepmother of a 10-year-old girl whose body was found in a trash can at a metro Atlanta apartment complex have been charged with murder. Gwinnett County police said in a statement that a man called 911 at 3:43 a.m. Saturday and said he was suicidal. He also said his daughter drank some type of chemical and was dead. The man pointed officers responding to the call to a trash can at the complex, where the...

Volatile prices at gas pumps give drivers whiplash NEW YORK (AP) — Local gasoline prices are swinging up and down ever more drastically, a result of a national fuel system that is operating with a shrinking margin for error. Jumps of 20 cents per gallon or more in a single day are becoming more common, for example, according to an AP analysis of daily and weekly price changes at 120,000 U.S. gasoline stations tracked by GasBuddy.com. Sixty-three times this year at least one U.S. metro area has...

Sticker shock often follows insurance cancellation MIAMI (AP) — Dean Griffin liked the health insurance he purchased for himself and his wife three years ago and thought he’d be able to keep the plan even after the federal Affordable Care Act took effect. But the 64-year-old recently received a letter notifying him the plan was being canceled because it didn’t cover certain benefits required under the law. The Griffins, who live near Philadelphia on the Delaware border, pay $770 monthly for th...

DC on fast track to decriminalizing pot possession WASHINGTON (AP) — It took nearly 15 years after voters approved medical marijuana for it to become available in the District of Columbia, but the next major change to pot laws in the nation’s capital is on the fast track. The D.C. Council is poised to approve a bill that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot, and Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray announced last month that he supports it. He could sign the bill into law as early as...

Suspected gunman in custody after LAX shootingLOS ANGELES (AP) — A gunman armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, wounding a Transportation Security Administration employee and two others in an attack that frightened passengers and disrupted flights nationwide. Police said the unidentified suspect, who was apparently injured following an exchange of gunfire with officers, was in custody. Some passengers who already had cleared secu...

LAX suspect set out to kill multiple TSA officers LOS ANGELES (AP) — The unemployed motorcycle mechanic suspected in the deadly shooting at the Los Angeles airport set out to kill multiple employees of the Transportation Security Administration and hoped the attack would “instill fear in their traitorous minds,” authorities said Saturday. Paul Ciancia was so determined to take lives that, after shooting a TSA officer and going up an escalator, he turned back to see the officer move and return...

Prosecutor reviewing facts in Ga. gym mat death MACON, Ga. (AP) — A federal prosecutor said Thursday that he is conducting a formal review of facts and evidence in the death of a teenager whose body was found inside a rolled-up wrestling mat in his high school gym. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said that if he uncovers sufficient evidence to warrant a criminal civil rights investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson he will ask the FBI to conduct it. “I will follow the facts wherever the...

Court reinstates most of Texas’ new abortion rules AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that most of Texas’ tough new abortion restrictions can take effect immediately — a decision that means a third of the state’s clinics that perform the procedure won’t be able to do so starting as soon as Friday. A panel of judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can take effect while...

Hallmark’s ugly sweater ornament stirs controversy KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Greeting card giant Hallmark said Thursday that it shouldn’t have changed the lyrics to “Deck the Halls” on a new holiday ornament that stirred a backlash from customers online. The Kansas City, Mo.-based company has been defending itself after it began selling a miniaturized version of a tacky holiday sweater that changes the lyrics to the holiday carol. The ornament removes the word “gay” and emblazons the sweater wit...

Dell laptop buyers make a stink over cat smell NEW YORK (AP) — A noxious feline odor has some Dell customers caterwauling. People who own Dell Latitude 6430u laptops are complaining that their pricey new computers are emitting a smell similar to cat urine. Some of them said on the company’s online customer forums that the odor seems to be coming from the keyboard or palm rest. The Round Rock, Texas, company originally advised buyers through its forums to try cleaning their keyboards with a...

6 people shot dead in South Carolina domestic dispute GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man in a custody dispute with a onetime girlfriend broke into her parents’ home and fatally shot the woman, her parents and two children, the sheriff said. The man then killed himself. Investigators found the bodies of six people ranging in age from 9 to 51 when they responded Tuesday to a call from a man who said he was thinking about hurting himself. Greenwood County Sheriff Tony Davis identified the m...

Resilience, recovery, grief on Sandy anniversary NEW YORK (AP) — For some, it’s something to mark — a year of recovery and rebuilding since Superstorm Sandy walloped the region — homes that have been restored, pride in the resiliency of people and neighborhoods. But for others, there’s still a long road ahead and much work to be done. And for those who lost loved ones, the grief remains. Sandy came ashore on Oct. 29, 2012, sending floodwaters pouring across the densely populated barrier isla...